One of the most honored gospel vocalists of the 1990s, Dottie Peoples debuted with two 1991 cassette albums, Is It Worth It All? and Surely God Is Able, then broke out with her 1993 LP Live, which caused her to be nominated for a Stellar Award for Best Female Solo Performance: Traditional.

Contemporary gospel's preeminent group, the Mighty Clouds of Joy carried the torch for the traditional quartet vocal style throughout an era dominated by solo acts and choirs; pioneering a distinctively funky sound which over time gained grudging acceptance even among purists, they pushed spiritual music in new and unexpected directions, even scoring a major disco hit.

Founded in 1967 by Rev. James Cleveland, the Gospel Music Workshop of America is an annual convention bringing together fans of gospel from America, the United Kingdom, Africa and the Caribbean, ranging across faiths as diverse as Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Catholic and Mormon.

The Shekinah Glory Ministry is a praise & worship collective connected with Valley Kingdom Ministries International, a nondenominational church based in the Chicago area, and includes a cast of musicians, psalmists, dancers, and singers.

General critical consensus holds Mahalia Jackson as the greatest gospel singer ever to live; a major crossover success whose popularity extended across racial divides, she was gospel's first superstar, and even decades after her death remains, for many listeners, a defining symbol of the music's transcendent power.

As part of contemporary gospel phenomenon the Clark Sisters, Detroit-based Dorinda Clark-Cole helped hone the inimitable Clark sound, an intricate harmonic blend that would go on to influence scores of performers in the R&B, pop, and hip-hop realms.

The 30-member New Life Community Choir was assembled in 1981 by its leader, the Rev. John P. Kee. A former drug addict, Kee had found redemption through Christianity, and was keen to put something back into the Charlotte community.

Led by vocalist Andrew Cheairs, a reverend at the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Byhalia, MS, Reverend Andrew Cheairs & the Songbirds use music as a vehicle for expressing their deep religious convictions.

Chanticleer may be the only independent full-time classical vocal ensemble in the United States. Since its inception in 1978, the group has developed an excellent reputation for its interpretation of music from many genres, and its bell-like sound has set a new ensemble standard.

Widely acclaimed among the greatest soloists in gospel history, Clara Ward was also the subject of much criticism from purists -- with her backing group, the Ward Singers, she pushed gospel out of the church and into the nightclubs, infusing the music with a shot of glitz and glamour the likes of which had never before been seen.

Perhaps the most underrated gospel vocalist and songwriter of black gospel's golden age, Dorothy Love Coates represented, in the words of Craig Werner's A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race and the Soul of America, "the best of what the early '60s offered: a model of call and response rooted in an unflinching engagement with history; an understanding of the world that sends pulses of energy back and forth between gospel and the blues; an unwavering commitment to the beloved community; a refusal to be seduced into a mainstream where the value of life is measured in money; and music so powerful it can change your life.

The Holmes Brothers' unique synthesis of gospel-inflected R&B harmonies, accompanied by good drumming and rhythm-based guitar playing, gives them a down-home rural feeling that no other touring roots music group can duplicate.

A religious calling turned John P. Kee (born: John Prince Kee) from a seedy lifestyle to a career as a top-ranked gospel performer, producer, and pastor of the New Life Fellowship Church in Charlotte, NC.